- Replay
- After one clear, New Game turns yellow and starts a replay that keeps what you unlocked.
- Extra weapons
- Two: the Chainsaw and the Hyper Spray.
- Extra items
- The four Rebirth items, the Dog Key and, in the expanded versions, the Blue Gem.
- 10 stars
- Unlocks the Green Hyper Spray. The guides disagree on two of the requirements.
How unlocking works
Silent Hill 2 has no menu of extras. Once you finish the main story, one guide explains, the New Game option on the title screen turns yellow: start from there with your cleared save on the memory card, and the new run keeps your endings and unlocks. One guide says every extra on this page appears only in such a replay; the other also puts the Chainsaw in Easy runs (see the Weapons page). The first guide's tip is to load your most recent end-of-game save before starting, so nothing you have earned is lost. It also says a save from the first PS2 release can be loaded in the expanded version: it keeps your endings and unlocks, though not a game in progress.
After one clear
- Bullet Adjust: one guide says one clear opens both x2 and x3, which multiply the ammo in every pickup. Set it in the hidden Extra Options menu (L1 or R1 on the Options screen).
- Noise Effect: one guide says one clear lets you turn off the grainy film filter, in the same menu. A 2001 review says the first PS2 release has no such switch.
- Chainsaw: two guides agree it appears after one clear, in a stack of logs on the path just after the graveyard. The Weapons page has one more condition that only one of them gives.
- The four Rebirth items: the White Chrism, Lost Memories, the Obsidian Goblet and Crimson Ceremony. See the Endings page for where each one is.
- A clue memo: one guide says a note on the sewing table in room 205 of Wood Side Apartments hints at one main ending you have not seen yet. Once you have all three, it stops appearing.
Unlocked later
Hyper Spray
Two guides agree: finish once on Hard Action, twice with at least one run on Normal, or three times on any setting. Found in a camper van on Saul Street. Its colour follows your last ranking.
Extra Riddle Level
Two guides agree: finish the game on Easy, Normal and Hard Riddle. Then choose Hard Riddle, and the game plays Extra instead (the guides differ on whether Action must be Hard too, see below); your save file shows which one you got.
Dog Key
Two guides agree it needs Leave, In Water and Maria on the same save, or the Rebirth ending. It sits in a doghouse in an open yard west of Jack's Inn and opens the Observation Room for the Dog ending.
Blue Gem
Expanded versions only. Three guides say it needs both the main story and Born from a Wish finished on the save. It lies in the restroom where the game starts and leads to the UFO ending.
Where the guides differ on Extra
- Choosing Extra: Silent Hill Memories says you only need to pick Hard Riddle; the Silent Hill Wiki on Fandom says both Action and Riddle must be set to Hard.
The 10-star ranking
| Category | What it takes |
|---|---|
| Action Level | Hard |
| Riddle Level | Hard or Extra |
| Ending this run | Does not matter; Dog or UFO are the quickest, since they skip the last two bosses |
| Endings on the save | Silent Hill Memories: Leave, In Water, Maria, Rebirth and Dog are enough for full marks, and other mixes also work. The Silent Hill Wiki on Fandom lists 4/4 (+3), every ending in the expanded version. |
| Saves | 0 to 2 |
| Total time | Under 3 hours |
| Items collected | Silent Hill Memories: it is a formula, so the number shifts, but at least 160 items and the 7 extras in the first PS2 release, or 140 and all 8 extras in the expanded version. The Silent Hill Wiki on Fandom: over 150, plus the 8 special items. |
| Enemies killed with guns | 75 or more |
| Enemies killed in close combat | 75 or more |
| Boat stage | Under 1 minute 20 seconds |
| Total damage | Under 500 |
Ranking notes
- Two guides give the rows without a dispute mark. They also agree that 10 stars earns the Green Hyper Spray, which kills enemies outright.
- Tips from two guides: raise Bullet Adjust as high as it goes, and aim for the Dog or UFO ending to save time and damage.
- One guide says the ending you get this run is worth no stars at all; only the endings already on your save count.
- One guide says the PC version never counts saves against you.
Cross-checked
Cross-checked on 24 October 2026 against Andrew Haffenden's (Conquerer) unlockables, 10-star ranking, weapons, FAQ and playing-the-game pages as published on Silent Hill Memories, and the Silent Hill Wiki on Fandom (secrets, Hyper Spray and 10 Star Ranking pages), IGN's 2001 Xbox review, and the endings FAQs by Evil-Chicken and Matt Clark (Silvercross) on GameFAQs. Evil-Chicken's and Matt Clark's (Silvercross) endings FAQs on GameFAQs also give the Blue Gem's unlock rule, and the Fandom wiki's ranking list points readers to Silent Hill Memories' ranking guide, so on the 10-star rows the two are not fully independent. The yellow New Game, loading an old save in the expanded version, Bullet Adjust, the Noise Effect switch, the clue memo in room 205, the zero stars for this run's ending and the PC version not counting saves come from Silent Hill Memories alone; the Chainsaw in Easy runs comes from the Fandom wiki alone. IGN's 2001 Xbox review says the first PS2 release had no Noise Effect switch. Not from a playthrough: nobody here has played it.